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Thursday, 31 December 2015

To all my followers and everyone that visits my blog I would like to wish you good health and happiness for the New Year!

Well Christmas has been and gone ... I know it arrives on the same date every year but I still wasn't ready this year with cards and gifts! My problem was that although I had planned time to do everything what I hadn't planned for the unexpected! The unexpected happened ... I had to make an unplanned trip to my parents in Lincolnshire the weekend before Christmas. This did mean that I missed the last posting dates for cards but I have made up for it by creating New Year cards. This is the card using one of my favourite techniques for 2015 - inlaid dies. A simple design but easily replicated.

The numbers have been die cut from card that I printed using acrylic paints and my gel plate.

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Do you prefer Happy or Merry? My mum doesn't like to use Merry ... she doesn't like to think she is encouraging people to drink in excess, so prefers to use Happy. I don't really have a preference although I tend to use Happy more often if just using one sentiment on the outside of the card but very often wish people a ... Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. So tonight in my panic to create more Christmas cards I have catered for all tastes - ten cards, five that are Merry and five that are Happy! All I've done is create a problem for myself ... how do I know whether my friends prefer Happy or Merry ... I think I just need to relax and accept that not many people think so hard about this ... or maybe they do!Less waffle more card! Here are the cards:

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

As the last posting day for Christmas is fast approaching I am struggling to create enough cards to send to my family and friends - I might have to admit defeat and buy some!! I did create a very CAS card for this week's "Less is More" challenge - it is one layer week with the theme of 'What's in my stocking?'. I've been very literal with my image but I've tried to reflect what I would wish for everyone to find in their stocking this year - 'Peace * Love * Joy. We seem to live in a very turbulent world at the moment - wouldn't it be nice if we could all just live alongside each other and celebrate and accept our differences.I seem to have lost the 'Wow factor' in creating cards but I'm sure someone will be happy to receive this card if only because it means someone is thinking about them.

Very plain and simple - just stamping, water colouring and heat embossing.Enjoy!

Thursday, 10 December 2015

Good evening! Quick post this evening to share a card - today's contribution is towards the stash of Christmas cards! I'm way behind with everything to do with Christmas but I guess I will get there in the end - I usually do!!

This week it is time for a colour challenge at "Less is More" - Green and Blue - this was my starting point. I used:Brushos - Ultra Marine, Turquoise, Emerald Green and Leaf GreenUniko - Jungle Bells stamp setDistress Ink - Festive BerriesDiesire Die - Snowflake Bauble.Lawn Fawn - Stitched Rectangle dieHopefully I will find time to create enough Christmas cards in time to write and post them - I did die cut some more baubles out of the card I created for this card so it will be quite easy to assemble some more.Over the last month I've been busy with my sewing machine creating cushions and Christmas decorations (some I've shown on my blog). I thought I would finish this post by sharing a couple of photographs of my table at a recent Christmas Fair:

From one side ...

... from the other side ..

The wooden items were created by my brother but everything else was created by me!

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

When my sewing machine is out of the bag I just can't stop using it - I'm also motivated by a school Craft Fair at the weekend and the need for stock to fill my table! Tonight's contribution to the stock is more cushions but this time aimed at the younger people among us! I created similar cushions last year and they proved very popular and as I had some of the fabric left I decided to make a few more. Here they are:

Monday, 30 November 2015

I'm off to a flying start this week - I've already managed to create a card, cut out 25 small hearts, 24 medium hearts, 15 pieces for 5 cushions and pattern pieces for 2 minions! Now it's time to create a blog post and update my Facebook page before bed!This is the card:

Never before have I had a sentiment stamp that exactly matched the theme of a challenge but today I have! The current challenge at TIME OUT is to be inspired by the words - "Snowflakes are Winter's butterflies", the exact words I have used! My original plan was to use some blue and turquoise ink with just a few embossed snowflakes but once I had embossed a couple of snowflakes I decided to keep my design to silver and white. I cut the stamped panel to add some dimension and interest.I used:Uniko Stunning SnowflakesVersafine Onyx Black inkPersonal Impressions Silver Dollar Embossing powderCrafter's Companion Watercolour cardI am entering the following challenges:TIME OUT #45 - Snowflakes are Winter's ButterfliesUNIKO #27 - Anything Christmas with the optional twist of CASAddicted to CAS #77 - DimensionAAA Cards #53 Anything Goes

Sunday, 29 November 2015

My final post for this evening - no card, no stamps and no ink! This is all about textiles my other favourite pastime. At this time of the year I create to sell at local craft fairs - very small scale but fun and it gives me an excuse to get my sewing machine out. It is also a way of justifying all the fabric that seems to find its way into my craft stash!I like to design and create cushions - last year it was all about Minions and this year seems to be all about hearts and bunting. These are some of the cushions I've made:

The photographs are not brilliant but hopefully you get the idea!I also made more Christmas trees - always popular as table decorations.

I am so behind with Christmas cards that I have to take every opportunity to create them ... I still haven't found a design that I'm happy with so this year looks like I will be sending an eclectic mix!I've been using challenges as the starting point for my designs and regular visitors will know that I like to try and enter the weekly "Less is More" challenge. I was determined to enter the only problem I had was the theme - FRUIT - I had no idea where to start especially as (for me) it had to be Christmas related. Then I had a 'light bulb' moment - what about holly! Holly has berries and berries are therefore the fruit of holly maybe it would work. It worked for me and hopefully will work for the designers over at "Less is More".

I began by die cutting a stitch edged rectangle, then stamped the image and sentiment in mossy meadow ink. I used a gold gel pen to add detail to the leaves and shadow around the sentiment. The small panel is backed with white fun foam before adhering it to the card base.I used:Uniko: Jingle BellsStampin Up: Peace on Earth sentiment and Mossy Meadow InkDistress Ink: Festive BerriesI will enter the following challenges:"Less is More" Week 252 Recipe - FruitUniko Challenge #27 - Christmas with the optional twist of a CAS creation. I'm not sure I could make a card any more CAS!Enjoy!

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

... Ho, Ho, Ho!Single layer + inlaid die cuts = super speed card!There is not a great deal that I can say about this card, so I will let it speak for itself ...

Hopefully this photograph shows the red foiled card

This is one of the most difficult cards to photograph, considering the design is so simple but the red foiled card just did not want to be photographed.I am entering the following challenge:"Less is More" One Layer Week 250 - SANTAEnjoy!

Good evening from a wet and windy Oxfordshire ... and it's cold but I guess we should expect that in the middle of November! As Christmas looms on the horizon it seems fitting that the challenge at "Less is More" is SANTA. I had a few ideas this is the first but in two colour ways.

Simple cards, simple design, limited resources and one layer! The boot print stamps I found in my stamp collection I'm not sure where they came from but I suspect they were free with a magazine. The sentiment was created from Lawn Fawn's Milo alphabet. I first stamped the elements with versafine ink and then used white embossing powder and heat embossed it, chomped the corners and that was that!I'm entering the following challenges:"Less is More" Week 250 One Layer SANTAPenny Black and More November Challenge - Anything ChristmasEnjoy!

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

Back again! This is the second card I made yesterday ... as promised in yesterday's post I re-worked my idea to create a second card using my gelli print. This time I've added some additional interest by stamping some splatter behind the lettering. I prefer this version, here it is:-

I stacked the die cut letters to add some dimension and because my fingers get in the way if I try and add small pieces of foam adhesive!I'm going to enter the following challenges:"Less is More" # 249 Colour Challenge - FIREAAA Cards # 52 Thanks/ThanksgivingEnjoy!

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

This post is to say thank you to all my followers and blog visitors. I've been missing in action for ages ... family demands alongside missing ideas mean that I haven't been able to create any cards or post anything! I've also been distracted by my sewing machine! Alongside paper crafting I also love textiles and each year in the Autumn I attend a number of craft fairs and sell gifts for Christmas - most of which are fabric based ... so I need to get creating stock!I decided I would attempt to create a card this evening for a couple of challenges. This is it:

I began by creating a gelli print using yellows, orange, red and bronze acrylic paint along with a number of different stencils. I was really pleased with the print and disappointed with the card - it does look better in real life than it appears in the photograph. I still think it lacks something so I may be back later with a revised version. I'm confident that the idea is sound but this card just has too much white space and lacks something ... not sure what ...I'm going to enter the following challenges:"Less is More" # 249 Colour Challenge - FIREAAA Cards # 52 Thanks/ThanksgivingI'm going off to see if I can find that "something missing"!Enjoy!

Thursday, 29 October 2015

Back again, in my earlier post I mentioned that I had created two pink poinsettia cards - this is the one that I'm not too sure about. I thought about not sharing it but in the end decided that I would as I may not be happy with it but someone else might like it!!

I die cut the image using a Tim Holtz die and then put it all back together again using foam tape to add dimension and interest.I'm entering the following challenges:TIME OUT #43Addicted to Stamps #168Enjoy!

I always thought that all poinsettias were red with some green ... imagine my delight when I checked on google and found that they come in pink as well! Why did this delight me? ... this week's challenge at TIME OUT is Christmas with the optional twist of using pink/purple ... so the existence of pink poinsettias meant I knew exactly which stamp set to use! Having created poinsettia card in conventional Christmas colour I couldn't resist the temptation to use pink.This is the card:

I stamped and heat embossed the image using white embossing powder. Then water coloured the image using distress inks. I wanted to keep the design clean and simple but at the same time add some dimension so I cut a frame into the image and popped the main part of the image up using some fun foam.I created another card using the same image and colours ... but I'm not sure about the finished card so I'm going to have a think about whether to post it or not!I used:Uniko Pure Florals PoinsettiaDistress Inks - Spun Sugar and Picked RaspberryPerfect PearlsI'm entering these challenges:TIME OUT #43Addicted to Stamps #168 - holiday challengeEnjoy!

Monday, 26 October 2015

Another card based on the challenge at "Less is More" and another to add to my Christmas stash - I still haven't found a design that I am happy with and want to make multiple times. This could mean that everyone gets a "one off" design or that I have to buy cards!!

It seems that some UK newspapers are already forecasting a white winter with heavy snow on the ground ... I find this hard to believe as the weather forecasters can seldom manage to accurately predict the weather for a week!!! Anyway this 'fact' must have been playing on my mind when I sat down to create another Christmas card - apart from the sentiment my card is a classic white on white.

The layout based on this week's challenge at "Less is More" it is sketch week and this card is a literal take on the sketch:-

I embossed the panel using some pure white card and an embossing folder before cutting a slice out on the side. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment before adhering the panel on top using foam adhesive.Enjoy!

About Me

My name is Elaine and I am a part time crafter - unfortunately I cannot afford to be a full time crafter! I create with textiles, enjoy knitting, sewing, cross stitch and embroidery. I also enjoy paper crafts and try to make all my own cards.